<p>Well, I am in the tenth grade. I think this whole obsession started when I made a B in Honors Geometry last year (the "smart" math for my school system). I am ranked 5/301 and it upsets me so much that I am going through great lengths to get to that number one spot.</p>
<p>Why? I don't know. I'm just really competitive and if I get anything below #1 I will have failed myself and my family I feel like. My brothers are not that smart. One is 20 the other is 21. One goes to UNC Wilmington (SAT-1860) and the other goes to a community college (SAT-1720). My parents have set really high standards for me after the other two "Screw ups"</p>
<p>So this year I piled myself with work and ECs which hasn't been all that bad until today when I found out I have a B in Honors Algebra II (can you tell I suck at math?) which is awful compared to everyone else. I ended up crying in class and going to the bathroom for 20 minutes due to anxiety. And to make it worse, my friend who is always bragging started to brag about how she made a 95 and I had to listen to her all day when I made a 70. I am taking an extra AP online after school class that none of my friends, even my BEST friends, know about which makes me have a total of 4 APs and 5 honors this year when the most any other sophomore has is 2 APs but I feel so inadequate and mediocre.</p>
<p>Have any of you experienced this? How do you deal? Sorry for my rant.</p>
<p>1) Your brothers aren’t screw ups. Shame on you not realizing this. Unless there are details that you’re not sharing, there is nothing wrong with going to community college. It’s what you do after that matters. If you digress, PM me and I’ll tell you why.
2) You’ll never change. You can’t marginally stop caring. In order to decide to stop caing you have to reach a level of caring. It never ends.
3) Stop letting other people’s success determine how you feel. You’re friend got a 95? Congratulate her. You’re not her. You didn’t do as well. You will do better the next time. There will be a time when she does poorly and you will do better. It happens. Everyone has their share of shortcomings.</p>
<ol>
<li>Sorry I put screwups in “____” form because thats my parents thinking. A sarcastic view.</li>
</ol>
<p>And, 2nd of all, I put “my friend who is ALWAYS bragging” I congratulated her without a doubt, but after the 93rd time of hearing it, I just stopped responding</p>
<p>Your brothers are not screw ups. It sounds like they did fine on the SAT, and one score does not make them stupid. Also, I’m sure you will end up going to a great school. Just keep working hard…your fine…</p>
<p>Yeah it is because in 9th grade everyone’s classes are basically the same (4 honors/core and 4 electives) so I took 5 honors and 3 electives but made a B in my honors class which makes me have the same GPA as normal kids.
And I’ve done the calculations and unless I make an A in this class, I’ll basically never catch up unless I have a super heavy senior year (Junior year here is pretty standard too)</p>
<p>You are stressing yourself out WAY too much! I think it is okay to worry, it means you’ll be prepared for the PSAT, SAT/ACT later since you’ll study for it. Your brothers are above the avg. score which is 1500 even though on CC that’s a giant black hole of despair surrounded by a giant vortex of mediocrity. You have put too much pressure on yourself and it is okay if you aren’t number 1!!! I don’t know how large you class size is, but at my school, the top 4-5 people are in the top 1%. Congradulations. take a deep breath and calm down. You did put on yourself many honor classes and ap classes, so you need to stay organized and focused to get through it.</p>
<p>Well, even though this probably doesn<code>t help, whenever you REALLY start to dtress, just remember that you are literally better than 99.0-99.9% of your 301 person class. Not sure on the exact numbers, but probably somewhere close to there. May not be #1, but pretty darn close. How competitive is your high school? Here, it</code>s basically like 50 honor grads, and then “the rest” of the school…so for me, there<code>s no reason not to be in the top 50, but I don</code>t work as hard as I should (This year, I do, but not last year.) </p>
<p>Yes you can. If you want to enjoy life, decide to enjoy life. Ask yourself why you are putting yourself through this hellish workload. College? Why? What will a certain college get you that UNC can’t? You’re only young for so long. Don’t waste it by aging yourself 94896 years. </p>
<p>Btw, I used to be just like you so I understand. I’ve chilled out and my life is absolutely fine.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with your obsession. Also you should get better friends. I have a friend like that. She’s ranked number 1 and often enjoys harassing me about how much better her grades are. So I moved away from her. Lastly I must say your brothers aren’t failures but keep up this obsession and you’ll do much better at life later on.</p>
<p>I was honestly always such a planning and stressed person. This year I’m so much better about it. I’m much more outgoing and go with the flow. I realized there’s no reason to stress.
I feel like I’m better at completing homework and stuff this year. I was actually surprised when people in Precalc started asking me how I’m so carefree because I’ve always been known as stressed. I’m just saying just stop worrying. I remember from the 2015 page you have a lot going, lead drama role, class president etc. the only thing I even worry about anymore is student body elections. Because I wanna be Vice President next year and I know the most popular girl in our school wants to also.</p>
<p>But as to your specific rank matter, I see where you’re coming from. Right now I’m tied as ranked 1 (but might not be after summer classes is counted) and I wanna stay that way. Just try, but don’t stress. And if you’re bad at math take stats next year and finish your math career.</p>
<p>“In 15 years from now, when I`ve started my career, will my high school rank matter?”
"In 45-50 years from now, when I have grand kids and children and are retired, will my rank matter?"
"When I`m about to die, will I look back and wish I had just relaxed a little more and worried a little less about my rank, or will it truly still matter that I was #1?"</p>
<p>And for the record here, what if you do all that hard work and get #2? Would you then just have wished you<code>d relaxed a little more and got #5, or would it not matter it wasn</code>t #1, because it`d be better than #5?
Theres no right or wrong answer, just some things to think about, because surprisingly, we wont always be in school. So for some it matters, for others, it doesn`t.</p>
<p>Lucky for me, my school doesn`t rank anymore. They got rid of that 3 years ago. ;)</p>
<p>Getting SAT scores of 1700-1800 are actually really good. A lot of students will kill for those scores, really. I think you, and most need to stop stressing over something so little. I get, my parents have high expectations too, but you shouldn’t act like it’s the end of the world. CE27M has great advice, as always lol.</p>
<p>I was exactly like this freshman, sophomore, and a few weeks of this year.</p>
<p>And then I realized something: I genuinely don’t like what I’m becoming.</p>
<p>Sure, I can get all A’s in 3 work-intensive APs/honors, retain my #3 spot, and possibly sneak my way up to #1 because I (was) doing better than the val & sal… but is the cost worth the reward?</p>
<p>For me, it’s not.</p>
<p>I miss staying up until 3 AM talking to my friends & playing video games/watching anime, going out multiple times a weekend for this concert or that sleepover or those town fairs, reading for fun, and daydreaming/writing for hours on end without distraction.</p>
<p>Sadly I’m still in the classes (my APUSH teacher literally won’t let me drop because I got the highest score on 2 out of 3 of our tests, she considered my first DBQ worthy of an 8.5, I always do my homework, etc.), but I’m not sacrificing my life and my sleep for them any longer.</p>
<p>I knew that my high school years are short, but it didn’t truly hit me that I’m rapidly approaching adulthood until a few days ago. So, I don’t want to spend my last couple years cooped up with books. Serious depression ate away at the first half of my high school experience; I don’t want to waste the last half as well. I also realized that I don’t need to attend a top college to meet amazing people or have a good life; in fact, all of that work would just personally lead to burn-out.</p>
<p>So, I suppose, my advice is to wait it out. Maybe it’s just a phase. Or maybe it’s not. Either way, you’re eventually going to get sick of it, or you’re going to realize that you want it badly enough to continue pursuing it, and neither option is a bad choice.</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to college? Because you want to be successful, right?</p>
<p>Oddly enough, it is not the college that makes you successful, but the person attending the college (aka YOU).</p>
<p>I volunteered at a homeless shelter a few years ago and met someone who had attended Harvard and dropped out. Success takes more than a test score. I stress over my grades also, but there has to come a time where you stand back and ask yourself if you’re going to cause yourself permanent mental damage. I also think that you are unconsciously looking down on others who receive lower grades, and as a result you look down on yourself when you receive a bad grade. Please stop that.</p>
<p>You sound exactly like me just last year, just one semester ago. I had just lost my 4.00 because of a math class, because I focused too much on my ECs (the fall musical) and had broken down crying.</p>
<p>What do you achieve by becoming valedictorian? Your parents will approve of you? Your friend will stop yapping about her scores? Why do their opinions matter so much to you? These are some questions you’ll need to ask yourself, and you’ll have to wonder whether or not their approval is worth all the stress you’re enduring.</p>
<p>In the end, it is your own opinion of yourself that matters. Success is very difficult to define, because only YOU can judge it. To me, success does not mean high standardized scores and a framed diploma from the best universities in the world. It does not mean a 4.00 GPA or a high paying salary. The funny thing is, these are the things people covet so much.</p>
<p>You seem like a very hardworking individual–and your motivation will get you places your grades will not. Take a deep breath, and realize that your future can only be defined by one factor: you.</p>
<p>I am also a sophomore and until the year I was just like you. This year I have 6 Ap classes and 2 honors. I have A’s in all except for calculus which I have a high B in.
Getting a job has really helped me get rid of that obsession. I currently work around 20-25 hours a week and love it. Just understand that whatever college you want to go to will want a student who is unique. It is more important to have a lot of ec’s and work and have high test scores than it is to be #1. Things like work and extra curriculars will really help you keep your mind off school 24/7. Also think about what you want to do with your life. Unless you want to be an engineer, a B in alg 2 will NOT kill you.</p>
take a deep breath and calm down. You did put on yourself many honor classes and ap classes, so you need to stay organized and focused to get through it.</p>